Eva Hesse was born in Hamburg, Germany on January 11, 1936.
Her father, Wilhelm Hesse, kept a scrapbook from the time of her birth—including how she progressed in size during that first year. Wilhelm was a lawyer and lived with his wife Ruth, Eva and her older sister Helen at 98 Isestrasse in the Harvesthude district of Hamburg, very near Hamburg University.
Here are Ruth and Wilhelm Hesse in the mid-1930’s around the time of Eva’s birth.